OUR FEATHERED POLICEMEN 209 



known one Owl to swallow nine Field Mice, one 

 after the other, until the tail of the ninth stuck 

 out of its mouth and testified to the fact that the 

 bird was " full inside." 



All our British species lay white eggs, from the 

 small white shell of our latest recruit, the Little 

 Owl, to the large egg of the Tawny, Brown, or 

 Wood Owl. 



These two species lay roundish-shaped eggs; 

 the eggs of the Short-Eared Owl and the Long- 

 Eared Owl are more oval, whilst the egg of the 

 Barn Owl is more pyriform and easily distin- 

 guished from any of its relatives. 



In the nature of their vocal powers, our British 

 Owls vary a good deal, for the Little Owl cries a 

 plaintive and penetrating " peewit," very much 

 like the better known bird of that name; the 

 Barn Owl hoots, snores, screams, and hisses; the 

 Long-Eared Owl utters a sort of mewing cry as 

 well as a short, barking note; the Short-Eared 

 Owl has a harsh call and cry, and also resorts to a 

 vicious snapping of the bill when alarmed or 

 angered; and the fifth species, the Tawny or 

 Brown Owl, is responsible for the weird and 

 mellow hoot which one may hear of a still evening, 

 and to which Shakespeare and the poets have 

 referred on many occasions. 



